Good police work & new ‘body heat’ camera aid in arrest

Posted on Oct 2, 2012 in Scene of the Crime by Josh Allen

Good police work and Paris PD’s new technology came together on Monday to arrest a 20 year old man allegedy involved in a felony theft, according to Paris Police Chief, Bob Hundley.

The incident bringing police to the scene of a crime started out as a property damage car crash.  A vehicle traveling in the 2100 block of Church Street had struck a large truck tire that had been left in the roadway.

As officers checking the area noticed the gate of the nearby Waste Management yard open, they went in to investigate, and found other tires, similar to the one left in the roadway, had been disturbed as well.  Police contacted Waste Management and personnel arrived to confirm that the tires had been disturbed, according to Police.

Another officer, checking Evergreen Cemetery, found a parked pickup truck with keys in it and the doors standing open close to the Church Street side.  There were items inside the truck in plain site that had been reported stolen from Waste Management.

According to Chief Hundley, police officers set a perimeter around the cemetery and brought out a new FLIR (Forward Looking Infrared) camera that the department recently acquired by a federal grant.  This new device is much smaller and more sensitive, allowing officers to ‘see’ heat signatures in day or night conditions.

In a short time, the device led officers to a suspect lying on the ground behind a tombstone about 70ft from the truck.

Rodney Dewaye Lester, 20, was located and arrested for Felony Theft.

Investigation continues and other arrests may be forthcoming.  The truck was towed and a number of items, believed to be stolen from burglaries of vehicles, were seized by police.

For the 24 hour period of Monday, October 1, officers responded to 113 calls for service and arrested six people.  Two people were arrested on municipal court warrants, three for public intoxication, and one for felony theft.

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